- Day 17 -
Part 1
It had now been over two weeks since Severus found himself cohabiting with the redhead. Presently it was August 30th, and tomorrow the students began their first day of class. He had taught countless years at this school, so many in fact that they rather blended together in the end. This year felt different though. This year he was tingling with anticipation. He couldn't fathom why this year would be any different. He would teach, as he always did. He would care for his secret cavern of creatures, as he always did. He would watch out for idiotic students making terrible decisions, as he did every year... So what was so different?
Other than the incredibly attractive woman who would be living with him for the next few years of course. Who, as a part of Master Apprentice protocol, would remain as close to him as feasibly possible for the next two years. She would assist in the education of the students. She would assist in the care of the creatures and the procuration of potion ingredients... meaning that he would be taking her to the deepest most dangerous parts of the forbidden forest, the lake or beyond. She would become his constant companion in becoming the guiding light of the next generation of wizards.
The strangest part was how she didn't seem to be put off by his cold demeanor. He found his icy glances, which most humans would cringe from... left this strange creature turning the most fabulous shades of sunset red. He was not sure what the difference was. She had been treating him differently since he had offered his first name to her. He had been unable to bring himself to call her "Ginny". It was such a feeble name. Her full name was Ginevra, a lovely and full bodied name. It fit her well. He supposed he could call her that. But that had not been the name offered to him, and thus it seemed inappropriate to call her such.
It was as though she had broken through the frosty layer of distance he kept between himself and others ever since... ever since he lost Lily. Lily had been the first and only person to break through his cold demeanor and see him for who he truly was. Not even Dumbledore had seen through his cold façade the same way. Though Dumbledore had trusted him despite the suspicion of others, and at times even facing ridicule. That was why he had put so much trust in that great man. It was impossible for others to warm up to him when he held them all at a distance, but it was hard for him to get close to anyone when all of them held him at a distance.
He knew it was a cycle, and until now he had accepted his part in perpetuating it. She had broken from the cycle though, and now that she had broken through he couldn't push her back to the other side of his inner wall. Even so, he didn't want to. It was all so strange. She was beginning to smirk at his subtle jokes that until now everyone else thought was simply him being rude.
For example, that morning at breakfast when Hagrid and Charlie had arrived covered in mud and slime Severus had muttered "I wasn't aware we were growing hobgoblin tubers for the students now days." He had either been ignored or granted a cold glare from everyone in the room. Ginevra on the other hand had snickered into her coffee and attempted to cover it by feigning failure to swallow correctly. She coughed lightly and reddened as the eyes of the room fell on her, but the slight glance of approval from him seemed to have set her at ease.
It was as though for the first time in decades someone could actually see him. She made him feel young again, like the childhood sense of having a secret with a friend that no one else knew. He wanted to use the world of potions to dazzle her in the way it had dazzled him. He wanted her to see everything around her could either come out of or be put into a bottle. Knowing potions so well had certainly done him substantial good.
Several years ago he had stumbled onto a recipe for the Lazarus potion. It didn't exactly restart the clock, but it made the body look and feel substantially younger. He had used it to stave off arthritis and keep up with the rigors of general life after he had received that nasty bite from Hagrid's dog Fluffy. Fluffy wasn't a bad three-headed dog per se, but that head on the left had a nasty attitude and poor training. Hagrid went far to easy on it.
His thoughts were cut short as the subject of his meditation returned from the storeroom. "I take it the dried beetles were more difficult to locate than I had anticipated?" He asked, for she had been gone for quite a long time.
"No, I found them easily enough." Her voice sounded distracted, and he turned to see why. It became rapidly evident. "Severus, what's this?" She was staring at an ancient book, filled with hundreds of hand written pages of notes. His face flushed. Oh bollox.